May 29, 2010

For those of us who have been on sub, it stirred up a whole fraught roller coaster of feelings. And for those of us who have simply spoken to someone who has, it showed how impossible it is to know what to say.

(Here’s another doozy I got recently, by the way. “Wait, have any of your [previously subbed] books been published yet?” No!!!!! If they had, you would’ve heard me screaming from the rooftops/received a cartonful to sell to your twelfth cousins twice removed/read a blog post on it!!!! I have to forgive the person who asked me that, though. A) he’s too young to understand how insane this business is and b) I love him dearly.)

Anyway, here’s a really interesting blog post that elaborates on the “How do you know when it’s time to give up?” question. Turns out a lot of good writers ask themselves this question all the time.

I figure if you’re on sub, somebody who knows what they’re doing has already bought in, and it is DEFINITELY not time to give up. Give up is what you contemplate on rejection 150 when nobody wants to even represent it. YOU’RE doing fabulously…